Telecommunications fraud is a national security threat that poses a significant risk of harming Taiwanese lives and property, the Control Yuan said yesterday as it called on the government to step up a campaign against scammers.
Taiwanese law enforcement has reported 20,000 domestic cases of telecom fraud this year, marking a historic high despite the implementation of the anti-fraud action plan versions 1.0 and 1.5, it said in a news release.
The soaring rate of fraud is worrisome and suggests underlying weaknesses in the government’s approach to regulating telephone number registrations, digital platforms and cryptocurrencies, it said.
Photo: Taipei Times
The Cabinet should monitor and improve anti-fraud programs, especially with regard to using preventive measures and boosting effectiveness, the Control Yuan said.
Although the government’s public information campaign involving 16 agencies has supposedly been heard, read or seen 330 million times, repeated exposure is not an indication of success, it said.
Public-private partnerships and an evidence-based approach should guide the government’s policy going forward, it said, adding that cooperation with businesses, civic and religious groups, and community organizations is crucial to efforts to combat fraud.
The government’s claimed success in preventing fraudsters from accessing telecom services should be treated with skepticism, as one alleged scammer in a recent case obtained the use of 300,000 phone numbers, it said.
The Control Yuan urged regulators to strengthen the government’s collaboration with telecom service providers to detect or prevent fraud at the source.
Telecom data should be more closely monitored, it said.
It also recommended the government use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to detect fraudulent advertisements, adding that efforts to remove ads have not achieved notable results.
Regulators should consider creating a social media fraud safety assessment system to provide objective metrics for gauging the success or failure of the measures, it said.
Laws and regulations concerning third-party transferable virtual accounts and cryptocurrency wallets should be shored up to prevent their use by scammers, the Control Yuan said.
The latest amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法) authorizing law enforcement to make use of cell-site simulators and GPS trackers to locate suspects is a positive development, it said.
However, the government should anticipate the application of AI and deepfake technology for crime by taking appropriate measures, it said, adding that partnerships with foreign governments might be required to tackle the issue.
The Control Yuan said that it had submitted its investigative report on countering telecom fraud to the Executive Yuan for its consideration.
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